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BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976)

LIST OF RECORDINGS

Works A to C

by David Barker and Rob Barnett

 

 

This is not intended to be a complete list, but is an attempt to cover all significant recordings of the digital era and re-releases from LP and video. It represents an updated, extended and reformatted version of a list published on Musicweb by Rob Barnett in 1998. The ubiquity of re-releases, and the lack of information about recording dates makes it impossible to keep track of which recording has been released before. Transient availability is also a plague - Amazon tends to show most of that has been released, and implies that it may still be available even if it has been deleted from the company's catalogue long ago.

So we have done our best. Perhaps not all re-releases are covered, and in some instances, a reader may know that what is described as a re-release is in fact a different performance. Apologies in advance! Certainly sampler discs and themed releases (eg Christmas, Best of English Music) "best of"s do not feature on this discography unless the recording is not available on another disc.

The list has been updated by reference to a number of online sources including:

  • review sites (Musicweb, Classics Today, Gramofile, Fanfare)
  • selected commerical mail-order companies (Amazon UK, AmazonUS, Crotchet, ArkivMusic)
  • major recording label sites (Naxos, Hyperion, Chandos)
DVDs releases are designated with a and SACDs with . Entries not marked are CDs.

Links to Amazon UK or Amazon US (via the logo images) indicate availability of the recording through those sources, and were correct at the time of checking (May-June 2006). Of course, this cannot be guaranteed for the life of this update. Current availability of particular recordings is a matter for the enquirer to check.

Regarding Collins Classics recordings
The Collins Classics label closed a few years ago, taking with it a significant set of recordings of Britten and other British composers. Since then, the rights to some of the Collins' catalogue have been acquired by Naxos and Harry Christopher's own label Coro (for The Sixteen's recordings). Gradually these labels are re-releasing the Collins recordings.

In checking availability for this discography, I have found that Amazon still lists some of the Collins CDs as being available for purchase, through re-sellers allied to Amazon. As a consequence, I have included the links to the Collins releases, as well as those to the re-releases on Naxos or Coro.

Portraits courtesy of the Britten-Pears Library and Edward Morgan.

 


Recent Additions

The update is now "complete".

From now, new releases will be added on a regular basis, and the most recent will appear here as well as in the appropriate place in the pages.

 

D E
Death In Venice
Death In Venice: Suite
Deus In Adjutorum Meum
Diversions For Piano And Orchestra
Three Divertimenti
Double Concerto for Violin & Viola

The Eagle Has Two Heads: Fanfare
Three Early Songs
Elegy For Solo Viola

F G
Fancie
Fanfare For St Edmondsbury
Festival Te Deum
Five Flower Songs
Folksong Arrangements
Friday Afternoons

Gemini Variations
Gloriana
Gloriana - Choral Dances
Gloriana - Concert Suite
The Golden Vanity

H I J K
The Heart Of The Matter
Sechs Hölderlin-Fragmente
Holiday Diary
Holy Sonnets Of John Donne
A Hymn Of St Columba
Hymn To St Cecilia
Hymn To St Peter
A Hymn To The Virgin

Two Insect Pieces
The Instruments Of The Orchestra
Introduction And Rondo Alla Burlesca

Johnson Over Jordan Suite
Jubilate Deo in C Major
Jubilate Deo in E Flat Major

King Arthur Suite

L M
Lachrymae (va, pf)
Lachrymae (va, str)
Les Illuminations
A Little Idyll
The Little Sweep
Love From A Stranger
Two Lullabies For Two Pianos

Matinee Musicales
Mazurka Elegiaca
Six Metamorphoses After Ovid
Midsummer Night's Dream
Missa Brevis
Mont Juic
Movement For Clarinet And Orchestra
Movement For Wind Sextet

N O
A New Year’s Carol
Night Mail
Nocturnal After John Dowland
Nocturne
Notturno
Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal
Noye's Fludde

Occasional Overture
On This Island
Our Hunting Fathers
Owen Wingrave
The Oxen

P
Paul Bunyan
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes - Four Sea Interludes
& Passacaglia

Phaedra
Phantasy Quartet
Phantasy Quintet In F Minor
Piano Concerto
The Poet's Echo
Two Portraits
Praise We Great Men
Prelude And Fugue For 18 Strings
Prelude And Fugue On A Theme Of Vittoria
Prince Of The Pagodas
Prince Of The Pagodas - Suite
The Prodigal Son
Psalm 150

 

Q R
Quartettino

The Rape Of Lucretia
Realizations (Purcell etc)
Reflection For Viola & Piano
Rejoice In The Lamb
Rescue Of Penelope
Reveille
Rhapsody
Rossini Suite
Russian Funeral

S
Sacred And Profane
Saint Nicolas
Scottish Ballad
Serenade For Tenor Horn & Strings
A Shepherds Carol
Simple Symphony
Sinfonia Da Requiem
Sinfonietta
Soirees Musicales
Sonatina Romantica
Songs And Proverbs Of William Blake
Songs From The Chinese
Songs (miscellaneous)
Seven Sonnets Of Michelangelo
Spring Symphony
Stratton
String Quartet In D Major
String Quartet In F Major
String Quartet No. 1
String Quartet No. 2
String Quartet No. 3
Suite For Harp
Suite for Violin & Piano
Suite On English Folk Tunes
Sweet Was The Song The Virgin Sang
The Sword In The Stone - Concert Suite
The Sycamore Tree

T U V
Te Deum
Tema Sacher
Temporal Variations
They Walk Alone
This Way To The Tomb
Tit For Tat
The Turn Of The Screw
The Twelve Apostles
Three Two Part Songs

Variations on a Christmas Carol
Twelve Variations For Piano
Variations On An Elizabethan Theme
Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge
Village Organist's Piece
Violin Concerto
Voluntary on Tallis 'Lamentation'

W Y
Five Walztes *
War Requiem
Way To The Sea
A Wealden Trio
A Wedding Anthem
Welcome Ode
Who Are These Children?
Winter Words
The World Of The Spirit

Young Apollo
Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra

   

* accords with Britten's own teenage mis-spelling

Index to BIOGRAPHY by Rob Barnett

Introduction And Reputation
Early Years And School
Frank Bridge
Royal College Of Music
Spheres Of Influence
Film Music
I.S.C.M. And Spanish Interlude
Peter Pears
Suffolk
An Exile Of Sorts
Return To England
Peter Grimes
Radio Music
The War Is Over
The Confident 1950s
Travelling
Russian Encounters And Friendships
A Change Of Publishers
The Maltings, Snape
The Closing Chapters
And Then ……

The Principal Works Of Benjamin Britten
A Chronology Of His Works



   MusicWeb